Run Away This Time Without You
by SISbabyy
Summary: He arrives at District 2 with nothing but a mangy old cat that reminds him of two girls he once knew.


Gale sighed as District 2 came into view.

_My new home,_ he thought, though nothing had felt like home for awhile. Not District 13, and not even the ravaged District 12 that he lived in for his whole life. He didn't expect this to feel any different from the others.

_I always planned on running away_, he reminded himself. Whether it was with Katniss and his family or without, he did plan on leaving.

The thought him running away from District 12 is laughable now, since he has the choice of where he wants to live. Things are so different, so incredibly different from before.

And if he's honest, he isn't sure which time he prefers more.

All the fire he felt in District 12 before and after the Games. All the passion he used in District 13 with moving the revolution forward. _Gone_. He never thought he would lose it, his spark for life, but the saying does go _never say never_. Gale is learning that the hard way.

It wasn't District 2's fault that he felt out of place though, it was his own. He knew that. That was exactly why he requested to be moved there. District 13 was filled with too many bad memories, and District 12 contained the most painful. He couldn't picture himself moving back to District 12 with Katniss there. He had long abandoned the hope that they could someday again become the friends they were. The days when they would hunt, hike for long walks, and share food in the meadow were done. She would never be able to accept his hand in Prim's death, and he would not be able to look at her without being reminded of it himself. But he missed their talks, their mutual need to survive and to provide for their families. He loved Katniss, and always would. But he can't change the past, and maybe it was better that way.

District 13 reminded him of the machine that killed his best friend's little sister. That killed the girl he protected and spent time with while Katniss was in the arena. Prim patched him up when he was whipped in the town and then again when he went on a mission to the Capitol to save Peeta and came back with a broken arm. She helped him when he didn't know what certain parts of the body were called in one of his classes, and always checked on him after training. He liked to believe he did some good by her when he remembered her for the drill, taught her how to hunt during Katniss's first Games, and carried her away from the massive bomb that dropped on District 12. He liked to think he did some good by her, but ultimately knew that any good deed he did for her could never compare to the last deed he did for the revolution. Where he created the very bomb that shattered Prim into pieces. He shook his head. No, he couldn't live in District 13, not without suffocating from the guilt and the grief.

"Are you all set, Gale?" Someone from District 13's top team asked him.

He looked down at the little cat that gave happiness to Prim, annoyance to Katniss, and chaos to District 13. After Katniss left to live back in 12, he stayed in 13 for a while to finish up some work. He was walking down the hallway after finishing a meeting when he heard the soft _meow_. He didn't have to know what was lurking, Buttercup was the only cat in the district.

"_Buttercup," He gently called._

Buttercup emerged from around the corner, his head down, paws defeated. He had also lost his spark since Prim died. He stared at Buttercup, but all he saw was Prim's smile. She loved this cat, even went back for it when the bomb alarm went off, and because she loved it Gale knew he couldn't let it go. He gently scooped up the jaded feline and tucked him into the crook of his arm. From that day forward, they were a team.

"Yes, I'm ready." Gale replied and looked out the window of the hovercraft.

As it touched the ground Gale took a deep breath. _This is home now_, he thought, _or as much as home it could get_. The door opened and the worker from District 13 gestured towards it. Gale looked down at Buttercup as if asking, _are you ready for this?_

Buttercup gave a feeble _meow_, which Gale understood completely.

_No,_ he was answering_, but neither are you_.

Gale picked up Buttercup just like he did in the hallway weeks ago and stepped down from the hovercraft. He heard the doors shut behind him but didn't bother looking back. There was no use. He didn't belong there anymore.

As he stared ahead at the foreign district he was about to make his permanent home, all he could think about were the two girls he left behind.

He scratched the top of Buttercup's head and walked forward. He couldn't get Katniss or Prim back, but he could take this animal as a reminder of who they were, of what life used to be.

So, holding his head high, Gale walked into District 2 with the only friend he had. With the only piece of Prim, the only piece of Katniss, and the only piece of his old life.

_A cat._


End file.
